Chapter 5: Twilight Town: Training the Keybearer

Roxas awoke from his strange dream feeling sore and tired. He heard voices above him and looked up, seeing Toshiro there arguing with Seifer.

He remembered the way Toshiro looked before going to the strange dark world and shot to his feet, glancing over the boy once more. The battle stance was gone, the anger vanished. Toshiro looked just as he remembered, if not a little pissed with Seifer at the moment.

"Look kid, I've been suspicious of you since you first got here." Seifer growled. "I bet those guys in white jumpsuits were after you!"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Toshiro replied, expression confused. However, after seeing the furious look from before, Roxas couldn't believe it himself.

"I'm gonna be watching you, midget." Seifer snapped one last time and walked away, wondering why it suddenly got so cold.

After the gang left, Roxas saw Toshiro's childish looks fade and his eyes turned hard once more.

"Who…who are you?" Roxas questioned, feeling a little nervous.

"Toshiro Hitsugaya. That hasn't changed." He replied, tone icy.

"B-but before, you seemed so…"

"Innocent? I meant it to be that way. I'm a cautious person, Roxas; I needed to know if I could trust you."

"So…you trust me now?" Roxas still felt nervous around the small child, but now that he was being told the truth it began to lessen.

"In a manner of speaking. I might not tell you everything, but I'm willing to drop my façade when it's just the two of us. Your friends…I don't quite trust them." Toshiro sighed and began walking away, noticing Hayner and the others approaching. He wanted to get this over with.

As expected, Roxas followed. The two of them left just as Hayner, Pence and Olette arrived at the sandlot, not seeing anyone.

"Why not?" Roxas questioned.

"They seem to be oblivious to what's going on here." Toshiro worded his reply carefully.

"Wait…are you noticing it too? The weird guys in jumpsuits and the time stops?" Roxas seemed excited.

"Yes, and I noticed yesterday that you do as well. We seem to be in the same situation here."

He led Roxas to an open area hidden by surrounding houses in the central market area. The man in red from before, who gave his name as Diz, promised that no virtual human would be able to get into the area while the two of them were there. He looked back briefly on the conversation.

"I am Diz." The man began. "I've been watching over Roxas for a few days now."

"Why?" Toshiro questioned, eyes narrowed.

"He's a very important piece in our quest." Diz answered. "You see, there is an organization roaming about that is growing stronger and threatening the balance of the worlds. They are attempting unlock a great power known as Kingdom Hearts."

"Kingdom Hearts?"

"In brief, It will allow the organization to have untold power. The organization is known as Organization XIII and is made up of the same creatures as Roxas."

"What is Roxas, then?" Toshiro briefly glanced at the dark portal.

"He is a Nobody, a shell left behind by a boy named Sora when he became a Heartless. Heartless are manifestations of the darkness in one's heart when they die. The Nobody is what's left behind."

'Sort of like Hollows.' The Captain mused. 'Only Hollows don't leave behind anything.' "Why does the organization need Roxas?"

"Sora holds power over a weapon known as a Keyblade, which is instrumental in unlocking Kingdom Hearts. Being Sora's Nobody, Roxas also possesses the Keyblade and is therefore very important to the organization."

"Clear enough. What is your reason for taking Roxas?"

Diz cleared his throat slightly.

"Under some rather unique circumstances, Sora was able to revert to his former self after being turned into a Heartless. As a result, Roxas did not obtain Sora's memory and is not complete. However, Sora lost his memories when the Organization trapped him in Castle Oblivion and slowly replaced his memories with false ones. To renew Sora's old memories we need Roxas to catch those scattered memories and return to Sora, who is currently in a deep sleep so that his memories can be recovered."

"So Roxas is the key to wake up Sora?" Toshiro, despite everything he still wanted to ask, surprisingly understood things well enough to keep up. The Heartless were similar enough to Hollows he wasn't as confused as most.

"Yes. Now, as for you…"

"I'm not at liberty to explain who or what I am." Toshiro interrupted quickly. "But…perhaps I can make an exception considering I need help getting home."

"Sora and his friends, Donald and Goofy, commonly travel worlds. Perhaps they will stumble upon your own as they do so."

"That so? Then I guess I should help you with Roxas."

"Which brings me to a question of mine." Diz smirked slightly as Toshiro raised an eyebrow in question. "The Organization is going to continue sending lesser Nobodies, such as the ones who appeared minutes ago, to capture Roxas. Having lost his memories as well when Sora entered Castle Oblivion he has forgotten how to fight effectively. You seem to have a fair bit of battle experience."

"More than you know." Toshiro sighed and Diz chuckled slightly. "I'm guessing you want me to train him?"

"It would be appreciated. What Roxas learns here will transfer to Sora, the muscle memories anyway. However he must not know anything of what I have told you."

"Fine, I see no problem with it." Toshiro shrugged before hardening his gaze. "I would, however, like my sword returned to me." 'I don't need Hyorinmaru to spy anymore.'

"I'm sure I can manage that."

Diz told him to bring Roxas to the area before he would return Hyorinmaru to him. Though he didn't like the wait, he knew he didn't have much of an option considering helping Roxas was the only way out.

"Um, Toshiro…what are we doing here?" Roxas asked, looking around.

The blonde jumped as the light of the green numbers appeared, revealing a sword as tall as Toshiro with a star shaped hilt and blue clothed handle, the sheath attached by a silver chain with a star clasp. Startling Roxas further, Toshiro grabbed the blade and swung it onto his back with a practiced motion before turning back to Roxas. He would never show it but having Hyorinmaru in his hands again made him extremely happy.

"I'm going to train you." Toshiro replied, his tone saying he wouldn't take no for an answer. "To fight those creatures."

"T-Train me? How can you train me? That sword is bigger than you are! It-"

Roxas silenced as the blade was suddenly pointed at his throat.

'I didn't even see him move.' Roxas thought in panic.

"I suggest you don't underestimate me." Toshiro said. "I can kill you easily. But, I won't."

The sword went down to Toshiro's side and Roxas allowed himself a breath.

"Now, I saw a strange weapon in your hand earlier when those creatures showed up. Summon it again."

"I don't know how, it just…shows up." Roxas replied.

"Then I'll make it appear." Toshiro lifted his blade and struck.

Shocked, Roxas lifted his hand to block. Having used the strange weapon not that long ago he was reflexively trying to use it to block. Realizing he didn't have it he made to attempt a duck under the sword when it appeared in his hands once more to protect him. The force behind Toshiro's swing pushed Roxas back a good distance and the blonde knew he would have been dead had the weapon not appeared. It also made him panic because Toshiro was clearly fine with inflicting fatal wounds.

Now that the Keyblade had appeared, Toshiro took a closer look at it. It really did look like a giant key with the shaft and teeth being bright silver, the latter shaped like a crown, the handle golden with a bar in the middle to hold onto. A silver chain dangled off the end of the handle with a keychain attached, shaped like a big circle with two smaller ones on top.

'I've never felt such a power.' Hyorinmaru rumbled, having gotten a taste of the Keyblade's energy when they struck.

'It's going to be different from a zanpaktou, be ready.'

"You-You tried to kill me!" Roxas shouted accusingly.

"Yet you're not dead." Toshiro replied. "I was sure that blade would appear. Now stand, I'm going to teach you the basics of sword fighting."

"This isn't a sword, though."

"It's meant to be used as one, I can tell. Whatever it is you need to know how to use it properly. I can help with that."

Roxas seemed nervous about the lessons and looked back at the Keyblade, wondering how he was supposed to use it. There were no sharp edges so it couldn't really cut through things, but Toshiro seemed to think it was meant to be used like a sword, which definitely cut things. It sure had a strange feeling to it and it worked against the creatures from before. He glanced at Toshiro, who couldn't be taller than four and a half feet or so, not to mention no older than thirteen. Yet he seemed to be an expert warrior, shown by the strength behind his earlier strike and the way he stood with sword in hand.

"Okay, fine. Teach me how to fight." Roxas took his own stance, something he always found himself reverting to when preparing for a battle. It felt natural, as though he'd always used it.

"Be ready, I won't go easy on you." Toshiro replied and held his sword up to fight.

Nodding, Roxas tensed for the blow. Toshiro darted forward and Roxas could barely pull the Keyblade up fast enough to block it before the small child moved and struck again with the blunt back side of his sword, knocking Roxas down.

'This is gonna be hard.' Roxas thought to himself as Toshiro helped him up and gave him a few pointers.

'Training him won't be easy.' Toshiro mused as he watched Roxas take in his advice eagerly before taking stance one more. Hyorinmaru rumbled in agreement.

And training Roxas begins! Toshiro still has to play act a little since Roxas doesn't know everyone but the two of them are fake, but alone he can stop pretending...sort of. Enjoy!